Following today's formal announcement by NASA of Orbital Sciences Corporation and Space Exploration Technologies Corporation's win of the Commercial Re-supply Services (CRS) contract to provide next generation re-supply to the International Space Station, Space Florida will continue to work with both companies to accelerate their entry into space.

"Florida stands at the threshold to building a world-class commercial aerospace launch capability that will preserve the United Statesâ€™ preeminence in space," said Florida Governor Charlie Crist. "This is a premier example of the success that stems from public/private partnerships working together to strengthen Florida's economy and place as an aviation and space leader."

"The CRS award reflects a commitment to the next generation of U.S.-based launch vehicles, to not only support re-supply to the ISS, but can also return lost satellite and other payload market share to the United States," said Steve Kohler, Space Florida President. "In turn, having multiple providers who are capable of launching from the Eastern Range helps drive down the price of launch, making the U.S. even more competitive in the global aerospace marketplace."

"Space Florida maintains its support for NASAâ€™s commercial aerospace efforts and through our commitments with the 45th Space Wing, will work aggressively with our customers to accelerate their entry into space," he added."

Space Florida continues to work on a non-exclusive basis with all interested commercial launch providers, advancing its commitment to expand Floridaâ€™s aerospace enterprise, and remains in negotiation with several other potential customers for the multi-use, multi-vehicle Launch Complex 36.

About Space Florida: Space Florida was created to strengthen Florida's position as the global leader in aerospace research, investment, exploration and commerce. As Floridaâ€™s aerospace development organization, we are committed to attracting and expanding the next generation of space industry businesses. With its highly trained workforce, proven infrastructure and unparalleled record of achievement, Florida is the ideal location for aerospace businesses to thrive â€“ and Space Florida is the perfect partner to help them succeed. www.spaceflorida.gov.

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_________________Science may set limits to knowledge, but should not set limits to imagination.

Again your obnoxious formatting and tone makes people reluctant to read your posts/articles and even more reluctant to take you seriously.

I do think the price seems a bit high yes, compared to the prices indicated on the SpaceX website for an F9 launch. However, I haven't read the contracts and I have no idea what's included in the price.

Does the price include all the costs for recover, refurbishment and integration?

NASA is bound to want to complicate the recovery and have half the US military on standby during re-entry so I expect SpaceX would charge more to support that level of operation. NASA will probably want a lot of oversight during the contract and this will cost SpaceX money to administer.

One thing I did notice was that the orbital contract was worth $1.9bn for 8 launches while SpaceX were getting $1.6bn for 12 launches so SpaceX is quite a bit cheaper.

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